Without Faith It Is IMPOSSIBLE To Please God (Faith - Part II)

Hebrews 11 and the Biblical Definition of Faith

If you would, please turn to the book of Hebrews, Hebrews chapter 11. We started a new series last Sunday on the subject of faith. So continuing our series on the subject of faith, we're going to be looking at the chapter of Hebrews 11, the faith chapter, over the next several weeks.

Last week, we looked at the biblical definition of faith, and the author of Hebrews tells us in chapter 11, verse one, here is the biblical definition of faith. That faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

And I said, I think a lot of Christians, they read that and they think, well, what does that mean? So it does, the point I wanted to make last week is that faith has substance. Okay, true saving faith, faith in Jesus Christ has substance.

There's something to it. True saving faith will produce some sort of evidence, some sort of fruit. James chapter two talks about how what faith without works is dead. And then Hebrews chapter 11, it goes on to talk about how by faith, Abraham obeyed, by faith, Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain.

So we see again and again that true faith leads to action. But at the same time, we always have to make that distinction between faith and works, even though they are connected, the two are definitely separate.

Faith is not a work. And we are saved, of course, the Bible says, by grace through faith, not of works. And we're going to see in this passage, Hebrews 11, five through seven, that good works, not only do good works not save anyone, good works, believe it or not, don't actually please God.

So you could give all the money you want to charity, do all the good works in the world. If you don't have faith, it doesn't actually please God. Now, if I told somebody that they might not believe me, and that's fine.

But let's look at what the Bible says, and I'll explain why. So last week we looked at the question of what, what is faith? This week, we'll look at why faith, and I'll explain more in a moment. Look at Hebrews 11, verses five through seven.

It says, by faith, Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death and was not found because God had taken him. For before he was taken, he had this testimony that he pleased God. But without faith, it is impossible to please him.

For he who comes to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. And then by faith, Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, he prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness, which is according to faith.

Why Faith Is Necessary for Salvation and God’s Glory

Okay, so you saw in that statement in verse six, but without faith, the Bible says, it is impossible to please God. So I want to repeat that just so everyone's got it. Without faith, now, is it me saying this?

Am I telling you this? Or is this what the Bible says? It's what the Bible says. Without faith, it is impossible to please God. So in this message, I want to try to explain why that is the case. Why is faith so necessary?

As you know, most of the religions in the world, if not every religion other than Christianity, they all share one thing in common. In order to please God or to please the gods, you know, these world religions, it's really all about rites and rituals and works.

It's really about what you do. So you can be saved or you can reach enlightenment or whatever it is they're teaching. You reach that level because of faith. Maybe that's part of it. But ultimately, it comes down to some sort of works, righteousness, salvation.

We call this salvation by works. And of course, there were people teaching that even in Bible times in the first century, the Apostle Paul had to deal with this. There were people teaching that you go to heaven, you're saved because you keep the law, you keep the dietary law, you get circumcised, you do this, you do that.

And then salvation becomes, you know, adhering to a list of rules when we know that true saving faith and eternal life is only found in the person of Jesus Christ. Biblical Christianity, because of that, is completely different than any world religion.

Instead of being righteous because of your works, in Christianity, you display works of righteousness because you have been made righteous through faith. The word the Bible uses is imputation. So if you take notes, write this down.

I encourage that people take notes. It helps you pay attention and, you know, you get something to look at and study later. That way you don't listen to the message and get in your car and five minutes down the road, you forgot everything that was said.

At least if you write it down, you have something to take with you. But the Romans, the book of Romans chapter four speaks about what is called imputed righteousness. I mean, this really gets to the heart of the gospel message.

God declares a person righteous when they put their faith in Jesus Christ so that the righteousness a Christian has is not his own righteousness. We are given the very righteousness of Jesus Christ. Do you realize that's what happened when Jesus went to the cross?

There was a there was a swap. There was an exchange. Jesus, this is what he did. He took the sins of all the world. He took the sins of the world upon himself. And in exchange, if you believe on him, he will give you all of his righteousness.

So that when we stand before God, if we have faith in Jesus Christ as our savior, when we stand before God, he doesn't see us and our righteousness or lack thereof. He sees the righteousness of his only son because it has been imputed to our account.

So that's part of why faith is necessary. And this way, all the glory goes to who? Who gets all the glory in this system? Doesn't God get all the glory in these other systems? Man has some reason to boast.

Even this church service, we want to give all the glory to God. You know, we don't you don't want to hear a man up up in front boasting about his own accomplishments and talking about how great he is.

And we all think we're we're we're going to heaven because we're also good. We do all these things. So we want to say, you know, Lord, you you did it all. Jesus paid it all. I didn't die on the cross for your sins.

You didn't die on the cross for my sins. All the glory needs to go to the Lord. And and this system, which is how the gospel works, this brings all glory to God. So let's go through these verses one by one.

Enoch’s Faith and Being Taken by God

Hebrews 11, verse five. First, he talks about Enoch. And of course, they're listing the great men and women of faith in the Old Testament. Hebrews 11, five, by faith, Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death.

And he was not found because God had taken him. But before he was taken, he had this testimony that he pleased God. So let's turn to Genesis, chapter five, and we'll read a little bit about Enoch. Enoch is a very unique figure in the Bible.

He is, along with the prophet Elijah. These are the only two men in the history of the world that never tasted death. Enoch, one day, he was here on earth living his life.

And God, what?

God took him. Basically, he was just taken up directly into heaven. We know that happened with Elijah, with the whirlwind and the chariots of fire. Many believe this would be an Old Testament type of what is known as the rapture.

So the the idea in 1 Thessalonians 4, when Jesus comes back, all believers alive at that time. 1 Corinthians 15, 51 through 58. All who are alive and remain at the coming of the Lord, what? Are they're caught up to meet the Lord, never tasting death.

And I've said it before. I'll say it again. I want to be in that generation that sees the return of the Lord. And there's a blessing reserved for those who love the Lord's appearing. I know how some people think, oh, well, it's been so long.

And, you know, where is the sign of this coming? Or it's been so long. I believe it will happen, but I don't ever expect to see it. Well, maybe we never will see it. But I want to see it.

Okay.

And I believe that is definitely a possibility. It's something we should be anticipating. But about Enoch, here's the thing about Enoch. He lived in a time when faith was very, very rare. The context here in Genesis 5, Cain had killed his brother Abel.

And because of that, because of Cain and his descendants who were exceedingly wicked, the world became very corrupt. So for a man to have this kind of faith, it was very rare. Look at Genesis chapter 5.

We're sort of jumping into the middle of the genealogy. Genesis 5, starting in verse 18, it says, Jared lived 162 years and begot Enoch. After he begot Enoch, Jared lived 800 years. I mean, even this requires faith to believe it.

And had sons and daughters. The earth was very different back then. Verse 20, so all the days of Jared were 962 years, and he died. Enoch lived 65 years and begot Methuselah. Methuselah would go on to be the oldest man who ever lived.

How long?

969. Verse 22, after he begot Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years and had sons and daughters. So all the days of Enoch were 365 years. Verse 24, and Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.

Do you believe that this morning? Do you believe that Enoch was living his life and all of a sudden, one day he was taken up directly to heaven? And then the genealogy continues down to Noah. But this godly line, this line of Seth, it started with Seth, right?

Adam and Eve had Cain and Abel. Cain killed Abel. The people of this earth became exceedingly wicked. But then Adam had another son, Seth. That was his genealogy. And when Seth was born, his descendants, it says, then men started to call upon the name of the Lord.

So faith was a very rare thing in these days. Is that why Enoch was taken up to heaven? We don't know why he was taken up to heaven, except that he pleased God. So why was Enoch a friend of God? Why did he please God?

Because of all of his works. I'm sure his works pleased God, but his works would have pleased God.

Why?

First and foremost, Enoch had what?

Faith.

God wants people to have faith in him. This is what God wants. Here's the bottom line why works do not please God. You know, if you don't have faith, works cannot please God without faith. Here's why.

This is what God wants. God wants people to call upon his name. God created man so that he would reflect his image, right? We bear the image of God that that image is marred because of sin. But this is what the Lord wants.

He wants a relationship with his creatures. This is what God wants. So it all starts with faith, and then everything flows from that. So to put this in a way that I think all of us can understand. You'll understand.

You'll get this analogy why faith is necessary. Let's say for those of you who have children, that's probably half of the people in here, more than half. For those of you who have children, you raised your children.

You probably taught them to do the right thing. What if your children grew up to be law abiding citizens? They donated money to charity. They did good works, but they totally ignored you. You had no relationship with them.

They won't even speak to you. And even though they're doing good works, they live the rest of their life pretending you don't exist. How does that make you feel? But let's say they do these good things and they gave money to charity.

Is that going to help how you feel? Now, you're probably not going to care about hardly any of that or none of that. The thing you want the most is to have a relationship with your son or daughter. Is that not true?

Yes.

This is the way the Lord wants it. He wants a relationship with his creation. So no amount of good works is going to change a person's stance. If they are standing, living in rebellion against God, they don't want God in their life.

They don't talk to God. They don't worship God. All the good works in the world will not change that. Do you understand why? Because it's that relationship that's most important. You know, the Bible talks about God as a God of love.

Most certainly, God is love. This is what 1 John chapter 4 tells us. God is love. Okay, but who does God love? Before people were created, you had the angels. We don't know exactly the relationship God has with the angels.

But God had love within the Trinity. The Father loved the Son. The Son loved the Father. But then God created mankind. He wants to be loved. Does God love us? How do we know God loves us? Romans chapter 5.

God demonstrates his own love toward us. And that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. We know God loves us. He wants us to love him. So it's all about faith. It's all about faith. The works come afterwards once you have that relationship.

If you had that estrangement from your child, and then you and your child reconciled, and you had a good relationship, then you would be proud of their works. Then you would be happy about the things they did.

But you need that relationship. Hopefully, that's very, very clear. Let's go back to Hebrews chapter 11. I'll read the verse again. But without faith, it is impossible to please God. For he who comes to God must believe that he is.

So you must believe that God exists, number one, but also that God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. We were talking about faith last week. And we were talking about the faith of Abel. And we mentioned how Adam is not mentioned in the faith chapter, right?

No mention of Adam at all. And I said, well, that may be because Adam didn't, you know, his testimony, because it talks about the testimony of the elders. Adam's testimony is that he's the guy who ruined everything.

He's the guy who sent the world into, you know, darkness. Maybe that's why Adam was not mentioned, that there was no real notable work of faith that he did. Somebody said to me, though, I don't think Adam needed faith.

Adam didn't need faith because Adam saw God. Adam walked with God. Adam talked to God, right? Don't we see that? So did Adam believe that God existed? That wasn't the issue. Adam knew God existed. And this is the thing about believing, having faith.

It's not a matter of believing that God is out there somewhere. It's about loving him, trusting him, again, having that relationship with him. Hebrews chapter 11, verse six, but without faith, it is impossible to please him.

So that original question, why is faith necessary? Because when a person rejects God's word, they lack faith in the God of the word. You know, really all we have is God's word. God isn't here. I mean, he's omnipresent.

The spirit of God is everywhere. But you've never seen God. All we have, really, we have his word and we have the indwelling Holy Spirit. So I can read his word. And sometimes we have those, you know, feelings, promptings, the way the spirit leads us.

That's really all we have. We have the word of God. So in this age, really faith comes down to whether or not you believe the word of God. Here I am reading about how men lived to be 800 years old, 900 years old.

Let's just say I went down, you know, closest city. Let's say I go down to Northampton, Massachusetts. I walk the street and I try to talk to people about the Bible and I read them stories about how people lived 800, 900 years old.

What are people gonna do? I mean, most people are gonna laugh, right? They don't believe that. And because they don't believe that and they probably don't believe that God created all things. They probably don't believe in a literal Adam and Eve.

Because they don't believe those things, it leads them to when the most important thing comes up, Jesus and his death and resurrection. They certainly don't believe that because they haven't believed anything else.

So all that to say this, it really comes down to whether or not you trust in God's word. Faith comes down to this, really. Having a relationship with Jesus. And Jesus is what? The word of God, what? Made flesh.

Psalm 138 verse two says that God has magnified his word even above his name. I'm not exactly sure what that means except that the word of God is very, very important to say the least. So to reject the word of God is to reject Jesus who is the word made flesh.

Noah, the Ark, and the Coming Judgment by Fire

Are you in Hebrews 11?

Yes.

Let's look at Noah. We're almost out of time, but by faith, verse seven. By faith, Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, he prepared an ark for the saving of his household by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.

So just as it was important to know the context surrounding Enoch, I think it's important to know the context surrounding Noah. When the Lord told Noah about the flood, do you realize it had never rained?

And this is another thing you could tell people, you know, for the first thousand years of the history of the world. I mean, if you tell people the earth is 6 ,000 years old, they're gonna laugh at that too, I suspect.

But if you tell them for the first thousand years, the Bible says it never rained. Did you know that? It never rained. Everything was watered from the ground up. The fountains of the deep watered everything.

And here God tells this man, Noah, there's gonna be a flood. The waters are going to cover the earth. It's gonna rain. It's gonna keep raining. It's gonna flood. Nothing like that had ever happened before.

It's hard enough to believe on its own the way it is now. You know, people today talk about global warming and the polar ice caps melting and, you know, New York City or the coast being underwater. Maybe some people believe that.

But the idea of a worldwide flood even back then, I mean, this, folks, this is impossible. This is literally impossible for that time, except that with God, all things are possible. So he tells Noah about this.

And you know what Noah's response is? He was moved with godly fear. Why is that? Because God essentially told him, son, I'm going to destroy the world. I'm going to destroy the world. I'm going to flood the entire earth.

And you're gonna build a boat. And the only people who are gonna survive this flood are those who are inside the boat, inside the ark. And it says that Noah believed God. He was moved with godly fear.

Let's turn to 2 Peter chapter three. Noah was a man of faith. He didn't doubt God. He may have had questions, but he didn't doubt that it was going to happen. How do we know that Noah had faith? How do we know that?

Yeah, he built the ark. That's the proof he had faith. Remember the illustration last week? If I tell you, okay, do you have faith? This chair can hold you up. I think everyone say, look at that chair.

It looks pretty sturdy. It's old, but it looks pretty sturdy. They made stuff good back then. I think that chair could hold me up. And then I say, okay, show me, prove to me you believe that. Sit in the chair.

I ain't sitting in that chair. What would that say? You say you believe, but you really don't believe it. Otherwise, you'd sit in it. This is the whole thing about, oh, I believe there's a God. I believe in God.

Well, the first question is which God? Because there's only one God, but the Bible talks about many gods as in false gods. So that would be my question. Which God is it that you believe in? And then number two, you say you believe, James chapter two, right?

Even the demons believe and tremble. How do you know someone really believes in God? Well, in this age, here's the thing. And I know people bristle at rules, right? These are the things you're supposed to do.

And in this age, it's called, people call it legalism. When you say Christians are supposed to do this, and they're supposed to do that, and they shouldn't do these things which are sinful. And when you say that people, like they've come up with this term legalism to kind of speak against obedience.

I mean, legalism is a real thing. It's a different question for another day, but people respond that way. Here's what Christians are expected to do. If you trust in God, when you place your faith in Jesus Christ, what are you supposed to do?

Okay, you have faith, you believe in Jesus. What's the next thing? Okay, change. The repentance is part of turning. Yeah, thank you. He knows where I'm going with this. Repentance is part, I believe repentance is part of believing.

Repent means to change one's mind. So you turn from sin and you turn to Christ. You think differently about sin, and you think differently now about Jesus. He's my Lord and Savior. But once you do that, step number one, baptism.

And you're being baptized into the body of Christ, which would mean you would be part of a assembly. And then number three, if you base this on the Great Commission, make disciples, baptize them in the name of the Father, Son, Holy Spirit, then you're taught all that Christ commanded.

And we spend the rest of our lives learning and growing. And I mean, my friends, this is the ABCs of Christianity. But we live in a day where people say, well, you know, they have all these excuses why they don't do it or why they don't need to do it.

Well, if you have faith, I believe someone will do it. What about the person who doesn't do it? Well, it's not my job to say who's, say, you know, I'm not gonna be at the pearly gates deciding who gets in and who gets out.

But as a man who studies the Bible every day, just about, I believe that I don't wanna be in that position to have to stand before the Lord and say, okay, all these basic things that you told me to do, I didn't do it.

I'm not gonna have a leg to stand on. But I told you to turn to, what did I say? 2 Peter 3. Why 2 Peter 3? Well, we were talking about Noah. I'll close with this. Noah was told, okay, Noah was told that God was going to destroy the earth with the flood.

And Noah believed God. Okay, he had faith. Noah pleased God. And then we could say it was accounted to him for righteousness like it was with Abraham. Here's the thing. God has told us. You say, well, that's not the way it is today.

We don't have these words from God and prophecies about what's gonna happen in the future. Oh, yes, we do. And here's the next thing that this world has to look forward to. 2 Peter 3. God has promised that he's going to do what?

He's going to destroy the world again. 2 Peter 3, starting in verse 3. And God knew this would be people's attitude. Knowing this first that scoffers will come in the last days walking according to what?

Their own lust. Like, don't bother me with this stuff about sin and judgment, the end of the world.

I got stuff to do.

I got better things to do. Don't tell me about that. I don't even believe it's gonna happen. That's the way a lot of church people are. Verse 4, and what are they saying? Where is the promise of his coming?

It's been 2000 years. Jesus hasn't come back yet. I don't think he's probably never coming back. This is all just pie in the sky. And they say, where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.

Like, stuff like this just doesn't happen. God's not gonna destroy the world. In verse 5, yet they willfully forget that God, if I can paraphrase, God already did it once. He destroyed the world with a flood.

For this, they willfully forget that by the word of God, the heavens were of old and the earth standing out of the water and in the water, by which the world that then existed did what? Perished, being flooded with water.

So, oh, my God is, this is what you hear today. My God is a God of love. My God would never do anything like that. Your God may never do that, but the true God will, and he has spoken it. Verse 8, but beloved, do not forget this one thing.

You say it's been 2 ,000 years. It's never gonna happen. Don't forget that with the Lord, what? One day is as 1 ,000 years and 1 ,000 years as a day. And God is working on a totally different timetable.

You say it's been 2 ,000 years. Jesus probably never coming back. In God's eyes, it's been like two days, okay?

Two days.

Verse 9, the Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some count slackness, but is long suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but all, that all should come to repentance. The reason why Jesus hasn't destroyed the world yet is because there are still people to be saved.

There are still some people right now who have never placed their trust in Jesus. Maybe there's even one or two or three or four in the room right now, have never placed their trust in Jesus. This idea about God judging the world.

I mean, churches, most churches don't even preach that anyways. That's what the Bible says. And here's what's coming. Verse 10, but the day of the Lord will come. This is when God does it. The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night with which the heavens will pass away with great noise and the elements will melt with fervent heat.

I mentioned climate change before. There are people today, this is probably the majority view that people do believe the world may come to an end, but it would be through climate change and may surprise you.

I agree with that. I do agree with that. Only this is the climate change that's going to happen. You talk about global warming, the elements will melt with what? Fervent heat. Both the earth, it says, and the works that are in it will be burnt up.

Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness? Looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire and the elements will melt with fervent heat.

Long story short, God destroyed the earth once with water. He's going to destroy it again second time with fire. What do we do with that? Well, this is the bad news. The good news is that God has provided a way of escape, just like he did because God is loving, because he is merciful.

He provided a way of escape in the flood. And what was that way? It was the ark.

It was the ark.

You realize what the ark represents? It represents that right behind me. It represents the cross of Christ. How many doors into the ark?

One door.

Jesus said, I am the door. Jesus said, no one comes to the father except what? Through me.

He's the one door.

The ark is a Old Testament type or foreshadow of Jesus Christ. All who are in the ark, they were saved. They were delivered. They lived physically. But now it's all who are in Christ. All who are in the ark, the safety that we have in Christ.

All who are in Christ, as John 3, 16 says, they shall not perish, but they shall be given the gift of eternal life. My friends, the only way of escape is to be in Christ. How do we become in Christ? Remember Hebrews 11, 6, without what?

Good works. You need good works to please God. The way to be spared is to donate 15 to charity and help people and do this. That's all wonderful. And if you do it, good for you. But how is a person delivered?

How do we have a right standing with God? We call upon his name. We express faith. So if there's someone here who has never placed their faith in Jesus, I want to pray for them right now. Let's close in prayer.

A Prayer for Salvation and Faith in Christ

Father, I thank you for your goodness. I thank you for your love towards us. That as Romans 5 again says, that God demonstrates his love toward us. And that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Lord, if there's someone here, for whatever reason, they've been living life on their own terms. They've been seeking pleasure and fulfillment in other things. Lord, I think if they were to be honest, they would admit that they have not found that fulfillment, that peace that they're looking for.

I pray that your Holy Spirit would take the word, the Holy Spirit inspired word that was read this morning and would apply it to each heart as you see fit. Lord, if there's someone who has never trusted in Jesus, help them to realize I have sinned before God.

I need forgiveness. God, I don't understand at all, but I believe that Jesus died on the cross for my sin. And I do believe he rose again the third day. God, I have faith. Please save me. I want to live with you in heaven.

And I want a personal relationship with you right now. Lord, I believe if someone prays that prayer in faith,.

That you will save them.

Lord, I pray that you would do it. And I ask it in Jesus' mighty name.

Amen.